Witnesses

Professor Estella Baker, Professor of European Criminal Law and Justice, De Montfort University

John Binns, Partner, BCL Solicitors LLP

Professor Michael Levi, Professor of Criminology, Cardiff University

Richard Martin, Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Metropolitan Police and National Police Chiefs' Council lead for International Criminality Portfolio

Possible topics for discussion

The Committee will explore a number of issues with the witness including:

What, if anything, will the UK lose when it no longer has the ability to opt into JHA measures?

Will its inability to opt into new measures have an appreciable effect on operational capacity?

What avenues will be open to the UK to scrutinise or influence JHA measures during transition, once it loses its seats in Council and the European Parliament?

What is the likelihood that other Member States will take advantage of the provisions in the Withdrawal Agreement to “urge” the UK to opt into JHA measures? How would this work in practice: would there need to be a vote in Council?

Will the opt-in provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement apply to measures with JHA content, but without a JHA legal basis? Is there the possibility that the EU could, once the UK becomes a third country, insist that the UK take part in measures that it had previously opted out of on the grounds that they contained JHA content? What would be the operational consequences of such a course of action?